Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina, Pyro, Venera, Alex, Kyra, Luke, Katie and Jake as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Note: Sorry for late update as I usually get done on Thursdays, but a couple of personal issues got in the way...so yeah, but here is Chapter 11 at last.

Chapter 11: Semi Tricks

The next day had arrived and people were flooding the stadium to watch the semi-finals and see who the finalists would be. Arriving to the stadium via helicopter was DJ Jazzman and once everyone was settled in, he began to announce the day's match-ups.

"Welcome back to the Seaside Dome here in Japan for the next round of our regional tournament. You've seen the qualifiers, bladers who tried their best though only four made it through to the semi-finals!" he shouted and the crowd cheered.

"He's raking it in again. Boring." whined Luke and sat back in his seat next to Tari and flipped through the pages of a book.

"And so, our starting semi-finalists will be: returning champion, Gou Hiwatari!..." the crowd cheered. "And Alexander Valkov!" the crowd cheered again. "The two bladers have fifteen minutes to prepare for their match." Jazzman finished.


Over in one of the locker rooms, Alex polished off his brown beyblade as Kyra stood to the side and watched.

"Are you really ready, Alex?" she asked.

"Yes, Sis. I can handle Gou and I am going to make it to the finals. Perhaps you will too and we can battle it out." Alex replied with a smile.

"That would be cool. I'd beat you though and I will make it as one of the rare female champions." she said happily.

Alex smirked slightly and then stood up and headed for the arena.

"Alex." Kyra called after him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do your best and don't hurt Gou." she said.

"I won't hurt him, don't panic, Kyra." he replied and smiled slightly.


Over in another locker room, Gou was doing one last tweak on his defence ring when he heard the door open.

"Gou, glad I found you...you looking forward to this one?" asked Jake quietly as he sat next to Gou.

"You shouldn't even be in here, Jake. This area is for participants only." said Gou, ignoring Jake's question.

"That's why I sneaked in, now come on, answer the question before I get discovered and kicked out." whispered Jake.

Gou sighed. "Yeah, I am going to enjoy it. Alex and his Centaurius cannot handle my Kaenna." he said with a smirk as he examined his bit piece.

"Kaenna is powerful all right, I'm looking forward to seeing how much more she can do." said Jake.

The door opened.

"Hey, Kid, you shouldn't be in here. All spectators should be in the stands." said a tournament official.

"Ooh bummer..." whispered Jake to himself. "Catch ya later, Gou. Blade like a champ." he said and ran out past the official who groaned to himself and muttered "Kids, think they can do anything and go anywhere." then he walked away too.

"I will blade like a champ. I can't do any less than that. I come from Hiwatari ancestry on my father's side." said Gou to himself and stood up, then headed for the arena.

"And now, it is time to start the first semi-final. Introducing the bladers: from Russian and Japanese descent, with an attitude and power of a thousand tanks, give it up for Gou Hiwatari, our defending champion!" shouted DJ.

Gou emerged into the arena and the crowd went crazy. The girls in particular screamed for the younger dual bluenette who lightly smiled. He quite easily accepted fangirls though there were limits to how much he accepted them. He did notice his father in the crowd and gave him a smile before heading for the dish.

"And his opponent, also of Russian and Japanese descent. He's blonde haired, blue eyed and a force to be reckoned with: Alexander Valkov!" continued DJ.

Alex entered the arena and the crowd gave him their support. He looked up into the crowd and saw his parents. He noticed that Katie wasn't in the stands with her parents and so assumed she was in the locker room preparing for her match with Kyra, he lightly frowned, but no one noticed.

"And now, to reveal the dish..." continued DJ and the covering was pulled back to reveal a dish with many hills and tight gaps between them. One hill in particular was like a ramp and had a long drop at the end of it.

"Wowie, Seaside Dome rarely uses a trick dish, but they've outdone themselves, wouldn't you say so Brad?" asked AJ.

"I totally agree, those tight gaps could make for a real squeeze-play and the ramp could be a quick way of ending a long match." said Brad.

"The Hillside Dish!" shouted Jazzman.

The crowd cheered. Alex didn't like this as Gou could use those tight gaps easily with his fancy moves. Gou himself wasn't sure about the ramp, but liked the tight gaps.

"Bladers in position? Good, so 3...2...1...let it rip!" shouted DJ.

The blades were released. Gou's dark blue blade landed on a hill and slid down the side almost how a mountain-skier would and headed for Alex's blade. The brown blade had landed next to a hill and was zigzagging through the tight gaps best it could to reach the blue blade.

"Contact at last!" shouted DJ as the blue blade slammed round a corner and knocked the brown blade back, surprising Alex.

"Nice one, Gou." Alex said with a small smile as his blade regained balance.

"Thank you...but I'm not done yet!" said Gou and his blue blade started to slam the brown blade, pushing it back and sparks flew from the friction.

Alex panicked and shouted: "Centaurius, emerge and use Cen Smash!"

The brown blade glowed as a half human, half horse emerged from the bit piece. His human half had slightly tanned skin with brown hair and a brown beard. The horse half was black with a golden tail and his hooves were silver. He raised his front legs and brought them crashing down on the dish floor making the whole arena shake.

"Whoa, nice move there, Alex." said Gou as he regained balance and watched his blade do the same.

Up in the stands, Tala smirked and turned to Kai.

"You see that Gou will not be a two time champ." he said.

Kai growled. "Wait and see, Valkov. Gou isn't finished yet." he replied.

"Excuses. Can't admit your son is going to get beat by mine." said Tala.

Kai growled again, but ignored the immature red head and watched the battle play out.

"Centaurius!" shouted Alex and his brown blade forced the blue one up the hill with the ramp. Gou was cornered. "No way out, Gou." he added with a smirk.

"You think so?" said Gou and he smirked. Alex raised an eyebrow when... "Kaenna, Flash Teleport!" shouted Gou.

The blue blade disappeared in a flash of gold light and reappeared behind the brown blade.

"No, defend quick, Centauri..." started Alex, but...

"Finish him!" shouted Gou. The blue blade charged forwards and sent the brown blade off the hill's ramp so it landed with a smash in the rocks and not spinning anymore.

"It's over! Gou Hiwatari takes the round and goes to the finals!" announced Jazzman.

The crowd cheered and Tala was growling with his fists clenched.

"Who did you think was going to win, Tala?" asked Kai with an almost teasing smirk.

"Shut up, Kai." said Tala and frowned.

"Next match is Kyra Valkov against Katie Kingston. See you back here in half an hour." said Jazzman.


In half an hour's time, the stadium was back to 100% full and waiting for the second semi-final.

"Okay, so we have one finalist, now we need his opponent. Who will threaten Gou's title? Kyra Valkov or Katie Kingston?" announced Jazzman.

From one entrance emerged the teen red head and she smiled as the crowd cheered. There were also a few wolf-whistles in the crowd which made Tala growl under his breath.

"I can do this." Kyra said to herself as she held her blade tightly and walked towards the dish.

From the entrance opposite emerged the orange haired girl. She smiled a little nervously up at the crowd, but upon seeing her parents' faces and the encouraging smile from her brother, she felt braver and headed for the dish.

"And now, let's reveal the dish for the second semi..." said Jazzman.

The cover was pulled back to reveal a garden of sorts, almost like a National Park type garden. There were miniature trees and bushes and a wide expanse of water, like a mini-river.

"Whirlpool Paradise!" shouted Jazzman.

The crowd muttered, Kyra and Katie looked confused and, in the stands, Tala said "What gimp named a dish that?"

"Must be more to it than meets the eye." said Marina. Tari nodded as she heard what Marina had said.

"And so, in 3...2...1...let it rip!" shouted DJ.

The blades were released. Katie's black blade landed on the grass near the water and spun in place as she waited for her opponent. Kyra's white blade zigzagged through the trees and across the water and met the black blade and they pushed against each other.

"Feel the power and grace of Senera!" said Kyra and her blade glowed as a white swan rose from the bit.

The crowd awed and sighed at the beauty of the bird as it glowed so brightly.

"That's quite pretty, Kyra. Let me introduce you to Marati." said Katie. Her black blade glowed as well as a red dragon with red wings rose from the bit and roared at the swan.

"She's cool, Katie. Show me what she can do." goaded Kyra.

In the stands, Brooklyn turned to Tari. "This should be good." he said.

"As long as Katie does her best, it doesn't matter who wins." said Tari, and she smiled towards Marina.

"I agree, Tar. If the girls both give it their all, then it'll be great anyway." Marina said.

"You two seem able to be civil about it." said Brooklyn with a chuckle.

"We aren't immature like a certain two." said Tari and her glance flashed over Kai and Tala who both hn'd and frowned.

Back in the dish, the black blade charged into the white blade as the dragon's claws tried to catch either the swan's chest or wings.

"Kyra, feel this: Flame Vortex!" shouted Katie.

The crowd gasped as a black vortex spun behind Marati with a red fire surrounding it. It started to pull the white blade in and the smell of burning metal filled the stadium.

"Who recognises this move?" shouted Brad excitedly.

"No, Brad, this is a different move than King of Darkness. The vortex is similar, yes, but everything else is completely new." said AJ.

"Oh, okay." said Brad.

"Nice one, Katie, but you forgot something. Swan Spin!" shouted Kyra.

The swan spun around and created a shield of white feathers which protected her from the hot vortex.

"Oh no..." muttered Katie.

Suddenly a splash rose up from the centre of the water and a whirlpool started to form.

"And there it is...that's the trick in this 'trick' dish!" shouted Jazzman.

Kyra smirked as the water started to cool off Katie's flaming vortex.

"Finish her, Senera!" she shouted.

The swan used the water from the rising whirlpool to quickly head towards Katie's blade and there was a flash of light blinding them all for a second. As the whirlpool fell and the water remained calm again, it was revealed the black blade was down and the white blade still spinning strong.

"What a battle! And our second finalist is: Kyra Valkov!" shouted Jazzman.

Kyra smiled and crossed her arms as the crowd cheered, clapped and...the boys wolf-whistled down at her. In the stands, Marina smiled happy and Tala smirked slightly.

"And so, our semi-finals are finished. Join us tomorrow for the finale of a lifetime: Gou Hiwatari vs. Kyra Valkov! Let it rip." said Jazzman.


Later, before the guys separated off, Kyra came over to Gou.

"Hey, Gou, good luck tomorrow. May the best blader win." she said and held out a hand.

"Oh don't worry, he will." he replied with a smirk and shook her hand.

She lightly smirked back and when Kai walked away to see what Tala wanted, she gave Gou a proper smile and they locked eyes for a few moments.

"Kai, you won the battle when Gou beat Alex, but I'll win the war." said Tala with a smirk.

"I seriously doubt it, Tala." replied Kai.

Tala growled and said "So much overconfidence is a real downside."

"You want to start something, Valkov?" Kai retorted in an annoyed tone.

He had been patient with Tala all day and there was a line...which Tala just crossed.

"No, but you sure seem to." said Tala.

The two Russians began an argument right there and then. The teens, including Gou and Kyra, who had broken their gazes at each other, looked up at Tari, Marina and Brooklyn who were rolling their eyes.

"Things will never change." said Tari and Marina together. The others chuckled slightly.